


Dad Handbook

by baloobird



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Anti-Starker, Fluff, Gen, Nightmares, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), SO MUCH FLUFF, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark is a Good Dad, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21652243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baloobird/pseuds/baloobird
Summary: Tony walks in on Peter comforting Morgan after she had a nightmare and he never expected just how soft he gets.
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 50
Kudos: 519
Collections: Iron Dad Secret Santa 2019





	Dad Handbook

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imgoingtocrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgoingtocrash/gifts).



> Here's my Secret Santa submission! 
> 
> Kate, I really really hope you enjoy, your prompts were so adorable I combined two of them 💖
> 
> I hope everyone had an amazing holiday!!🎄

"Boss, Morgan Stark seems to be in distress."

Tony groggily opens his eyes and without moving his head, he looks at the alarm clock on his nightstand to see that it is three o'clock in the morning. 

He then turns to lay on his back as he's rubbing his eyes awake and whispers back to FRIDAY, "She okay?"

"Yes sir, but it seems that she's suffering from a nightmare."

The man sighs as he moves to a sitting position. Before he can get up, however, he hears rustling from Pepper on the other side of the bed and she asks, still half-asleep, "Ev'ryth'ng okay?"

The hero looks over his shoulder at his wife, "Yeah, just gonna check on Morgan."

Pepper ceases the rustling and settles back into her pillow. She then responds with "'Kay" before she nods off again.

Tony gives her an amused smile before he heads down the hallway towards his daughter's room.

He’s about to walk into the bedroom when he hears an unexpected voice speak up in a whisper, "Hey, it's okay, that ugly purple monster's never gonna come back ever again."

Tony then hears his daughter whimper, "But  _ Peteeeeey, _ what if he does?"

The billionaire peeks his head into the room and melts at the sight: Peter is on his knees next to Morgan's bed and said four-year-old is laying on her side clutching her teddy bear. The man looks on as his other kid keeps reassuring her, "He won't, I promise, your dad beat the bad guy and y'know what happens to bad guys?"

"What?"

"They lose, and that means they go away and they can't mess with us anymore."

"So that mean guy's not gonna hurt Daddy anymore?"

_ Oh my God, I'm gonna explode with wholesomeness. _

Peter responds with a question, "Was that what happened in your dream?" 

Morgan nods her head, "I thought I'd never see Daddy again…."

The teen's voice stays gentle, "I know it was scary but your dad's just right down the hall, the mean guy's not gonna hurt him anymore."

The girl squeezes her teddy bear tightly around her, "Are you sure?"

"Positive...do you wanna go see him? Just to be on the safe side?"

Morgan eagerly nods her head.

Peter smiles, "Okay, but just remember to be quiet, we don't wanna wake him up."

It's then that the hero decides to reveal himself, "Too late for that."

Both kids jump at that and turn to see a softly smirking Tony walking into the room. Peter’s face turns beet red while Morgan’s turns excited, “Daddy, you’re okay!”

The teenager scoots out of the way and his father figure takes his place. The man then gently moves some stray hairs out of his daughter’s eyes and says reassuringly, “Yeah, I’m here, I’m okay...are  _ you _ okay?”

“That ugly Barney you talked about, I thought he came back and hurt you again….”

Tony can’t help but glance at the metal that has now replaced his right arm. He counts his blessings, of course, he almost  _ died, _ for crying out loud...but it was quite the transition.

Peter mumbles confusedly from beside him,  _ “‘Ugly Barney’?” _

The older man waves him off, gaze still on his little girl, “Nah, he can’t get me anymore, you see this thing,” he points to his metal arm, “It’s pretty much indestructible, y’know what that means?”

Morgan shakes her head, “Um...it’s really strong?”

“Really,  _ really _ strong, nothing’s gonna get through this puppy.” Tony uses his other hand to make knocking noises to “reinforce” the strength before putting his arm down, “You don’t need to worry about me, I’m supposed to be worrying about  _ you, _ silly goose.”

The kid lifts her head off of her pillow in confusion, “I’m only four, why do you need to worry about  _ me?” _

_ God, was I ever this innocent? _

“I’m supposed to, it says so in the ‘Dad Handbook.’” The billionaire softens his tone, “You gonna be alright going back to bed? I’m not going anywhere, I’m just a few steps away, okay?”

Morgan settles back onto her pillow, a look of apprehension in her eyes, "But what if I see that big, ugly Barney again?”

While hiding a smirk, Peter answers before Tony gets the chance to, “We share a wall, remember? Just scream and I’ll be right over.”

“Pinky ‘pwomise’?”

The spiderling leans across his mentor and holds out his pinkie, “Pinky promise.” 

Morgan proceeds to lock their fingers together and when they separate, she goes right back to snuggling her stuffed animal, a tired smile on her face.

Tony gives his daughter a light kiss on her forehead, “Love you tons.”

After they all say their goodnights and “love yous”, the two superheroes leave the room. When Tony cracks the door, Peter can’t help but ask disbelievingly, “Really? Of all the things to call Thanos, you went with  _ ‘Ugly Barney’ - _ ”

The older hero cuts him off with a chuckle and wraps his arm around the kid, leading them to the living room, “She kept asking me how I got this ‘cool’ metal arm, I had to tell her something...and let’s be real, ‘Ugly Barney’ isn’t that far off of a description.”

Peter snorts, “True, but now you’ve ruined the  _ actual _ Barney for her forever.”

“If I never hear the ‘I Love You’ song again, it’ll be too soon. All I see here is a win-win.”

The kid laughs fully, making sure he’s not too loud, “Sneaky...I approve, Mr. Stark.”

Tony leads them to the couch and they both plop onto it. The mechanic then wraps his metal arm back around his kid again and pulls him close, “So...what were  _ you _ doing up?”

“I could hear Morgan through the wall, like I said.”

The billionaire props his feet on the coffee table in front of them, “Yeah, and it was cute as all shit and I’ll make sure FRIDAY has that saved into my ‘Favorites’ folder for the rest of time,” the man then looks at his protege in concern, “But why were you really up?”

Peter hesitates as he looks away from his father figure’s gaze, “I’m fine, honestly.”

Tony fondly rolls his eyes, “Funny how every time you say you’re fine, you’re not  _ actually _ fine...we’re not leaving this couch until you talk to me.”

The young hero grunts, “Since when did  _ you _ become such a dad?”

“Having a kid will do that to ya, interestingly enough.” 

The kid sighs defeatedly. He focuses on the hardware that encompasses his mentor’s arm, how despite the hard exterior, Peter still feels the same warmth that he always did when Tony’s arm was flesh and bone. He really listens to the light squeaks that have long since become accompanied by comfort and the knowing that Iron Man is  _ alive. _ He then lays his head on said man’s chest and confesses, “Okay...so I haven’t been sleeping that good lately...but it’s fine, I’m...fine.”

Empathy seeps into the genius’s chest; if anyone knows how it feels to have trouble sleeping, it’s him, “How long?” 

Peter wavers for a few seconds before he sighs again, “Since the ‘blip’ was fixed.”

Shit, Tony was expecting that. That fateful battle happened only a few months ago, the world is still recuperating from everything Thanos did. Who knows how long it’ll take to get everything back to normal.

To get every _one_ back to normal.

The teenager curls his legs up onto the couch and continues, pressing fully into his father figure, “I also see that ugly purple monster...and I keep getting trapped under all those alien things and, um, I-I can’t get out…” he then lowers his voice and says shamefully, “And I hate it.”

Tony starts soothingly rubbing his kid’s shoulder and upper arm, prompting the sixteen-year-old to relax completely. The man then asks softly, "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"You can't really do anything about it, I didn't wanna worry you…."

“I’m supposed to, it says so in the ‘Dad Handbook.’” The man playfully smirks at the kid.

Peter looks up at him in confusion, "Did you just -"

"Tell anyone I said that and I'll kill you."

The kid snickers at the playful threat, "You know you won't,  _ Dad." _

At hearing the name "Dad", Tony gets a warm, fuzzy feeling that he only gets when he's around his loved ones, "Huh...I don’t hate it."

"What?”

“You calling me ‘Dad.’”

“Really? ‘Cuz I thought it was kinda weird.”

Tony’s face falls slightly, “Wait, really?”

The teen’s eyes widen, “Not in a bad way! Just...you’ve always been ‘Mr. Stark’, y’know? I mean...calling you ‘Tony’ that one time was already weird and...‘Mr. Stark’ just fits you better if that makes sense.”

“You  _ are _ the only one who still calls me that.”

Peter smiles cheekily, “So...it’s  _ special?” _

The man rolls his eyes again, “If you say so.”

“Don’t lie, you’re thinking it.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“I think your head’s getting too big, you gonna be able to make it back to bed?”

Peter smiles smugly, “Face it, Mr. Stark, you think I’m special; what we have is  _ special.” _

The mechanic trying but failing to look unamused, “I hate you.”

“You  _ love _ me.”

Tony then smiles, eyes crinkling with fondness, “Only  _ you _ have the power to break me.”

“That makes  _ me _ feel special.” The sixteen-year-old wraps his arms around his father figure’s torso, “So yeah...I kinda see ‘Mr. Stark’ as my version of ‘Dad’...if that’s still okay?”

The older hero starts ruffling his kid’s hair, “Of course it is, I always liked you calling me that...but you have other options if you ever change your mind.”

Peter sighs in content, “Cool...but I won’t.”

“And never be afraid to wake me up if you can’t sleep, alright?”

“But then  _ you _ won’t get any sleep.”

“Y’know I don’t care about that. If I’m sleeping and you’re not, I’ll feel bad.”

“Didya read that in your ‘Dad Handbook’ too?”

“Yeah, page fifty-three, second paragraph, how’d you know?”

Peter smiles at the sass but it falls as fast as it came, “I don’t know how to fix it, the not-sleeping thing...I’m so tired….”

Tony pulls his kid closer to him and starts comfortingly rubbing his back with his other hand, “Unfortunately, there’s nothing in that ‘Dad Handbook’ about the after-effects of aliens and ugly purple monsters...but how am I doing so far?”

The tyke hums in utmost comfort, “Amazing as always.”

“Good...y’know I thought about this a lot.”

Peter rests his head on his hero’s collarbone and stares up at him in slight confusion, “This? Like  _ this, _ this?”

“Well yeah...and other things...that was a cute thing you were gonna do for Morgan.”

“Oh, no biggie, I mean, I was already up.”

“But yeah, when you were...not here, I uh, thought about you a lot...I thought about you and Morgan a lot.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, no bedtime ritual was complete without a ‘Spider-Man’ story. She asked questions about you all the time, she even dressed up as Spider-Man last year for Halloween...I wanted you guys to meet so bad.”

Peter’s cheeks redden with the good kind of embarrassment, “Is that why you cried when you introduced us?”

“I  _ did not cry.” _

His protege snickers, “Yeah, you did.”

“Didn’t...your insomnia’s clouding your memories.”

“Mr. Stark, I distinctly remember there were  _ tears.” _

“I only had the metal arm for like five minutes, I was still adjusting.”

Peter continues snickering as he rolls his eyes,  _ “Suuuuure….” _ When he calms down, the teen says softly, “You don’t need to act macho, it was really sweet.”

Tony feels his chest fill with warmth, “Old ‘Stark’ habit.”

“Fuck that, you reversed the ‘blip’  _ and _ sacrificed your arm in the process, I think your ‘macho punch card’ is all used up.”

The older man snorts, “That’s one way of looking at it.”

“And Morgan’s great, she’s literally a carbon copy of you and Pepper...which is also kinda terrifying, but I figure as long as I’m on her good side, I’ll be alright.”

“You’re right to fear her.”

Both of them chuckle at that. Peter then says contently, “This is nice, by the way,” and concludes with a loud yawn, much to his mentor’s delight.

The man takes note of how droopy his kid’s eyes have become so he makes a split-second decision, “Yeah, yeah it is.”

_ You have no clue how much I’ve missed this. _

With one hand still wrapped around his intern, Tony props a throw pillow against the armrest of the couch and while pulling the sleepy child towards him, he stretches his legs until he’s completely horizontal on the sofa. He then mumbles to himself, “Maybe this’ll cure the sleep deprivation for tonight, at least.”

But Peter seems to have somewhat heard him when he asks groggily, “Huh?”

Tony smiles as he gets them situated, “Goodnight, kiddo.”

Despite his eyes still drooping with oncoming sleep, the boy stays stubborn, “But I can’t sleep, I keep seeing ‘Ugly Barney’ and those stupid alien thingies….”

“I’m sorry, but that’s a risk you’re just gonna have to take, bud.” The genius grabs a blanket that’s folded over the back of the sofa and drapes it over the two of them, making sure the tyke takes up most of the coverage.

Peter groans and unconsciously snuggles even more against his father figure, not even realizing they moved positions, “Fiiiiine…’night, Mr. Stark, love you.”

Before Tony can respond, he hears his kid start lightly snoring and sighs in relief that the guy has finally nodded off.

“Love you too, son...more than you know.”

The man continues absentmindedly ruffling his spiderling’s hair until he starts to nod off himself, letting out a sigh of utmost content and happiness. 

_ That stupid “Dad Handbook” has got nothing on this. _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!!


End file.
